Painting Uniform failure...

[Epee Scherma]

I am not sure what I did wrong. I got stencils, I used a brush and dye. These blotches I got on the E and R in particular are terrible. Do I need to push the stencil closer on the jacket next time? What can I do to improve it next time.

Luckily, this is the jacket I was practicing my paint skills on, not the jackets I use in practice and competition. Should I just send my jackets off to Marx Enterprises? Does Krylon spray paint do a better job?

Here are photos of the mess I made.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/o4aver...rsob/my_photos

[cowpaste]

Was your brush wet with water? That is one thing that could have gone wrong. If you cleanned your brush with water but didn't ring it out properly, the paint you later applied could have gotten watery and bleedly.

When I did my lamé, used a plain sheet of printer paper. I printed my name and cut it out from the paper. Then I stenciled my lamé. The key is to make sure all your actions are up and down. In my case, since it was paper, the paper always stuck to the brush as I pushed down onto the fabric. As a result, the stencil ended up being close to the fabric at all times that I was stenciling. I guess if you used a hard stencil, it could have separated from the fabric more, allowing some bloches on the edges.

[millsisland]

Your local sign shop can make you a self-adhering stencil for about $5. Make sure the stencil is stuck well to the jacket and run a pencil eraser around the edges of the letters to make sure they've adhered. Spray with Krylon- three light coats a couple of minutes apart (paying special attention to get the edges of the letters) is better than one heavy coat.

Set up for your stecil job by putting the entire garment in a plastic bag. Cut out the area for the stencil and use plenty of tape and some newspaper to mask around that. Nothing like a little blue overspray on a shoulder...

[El Chucko]

Is it possible to screen print on a uniform? How about a lame? Is screen-printing ink "conductive" so it won't create dead spots on the lame?

[Larrison]

Originally Posted by Epee Scherma

I am not sure what I did wrong. I got stencils, I used a brush and dye. These blotches I got on the E and R in particular are terrible. Do I need to push the stencil closer on the jacket next time? What can I do to improve it next time.

It looks like some of the paint/ dye got wicked into the space between the stencil and the cloth. You do have to be careful with this, particularly if you are using a brush compared to a spray can or airbrush. The way to get around this is to coat the entire stencil with adhesive and press it firmly down onto the material (spray on artist's adhesive works, for example or double sided tape). You don't want to leave a gap between the edge of the stencil and the material as any extra paint/ dye will wick into that area under the stencil.

[millsisland]

It's certainly possible to screen print your name on the uniform, but why bother with the whole stencil/screen setup and cleanup for just one item?
(Of course you could save the screen for future use.)

If you try it, you should run a few goat sheets (newspaper will do) to make sure your ink is perfectly distributed on the screen before you print that expensive uniform. You'd also need to insert something like a piece of 3/8 fiberboard beneath the area to be screened to make for a smooth, even surface, and you'd have to avoid having any seams under the screen. There are different inks available and you should use the type meant for T-shirt printing. I don't know about its conductivity.

I've used Krylon on a lame. Once paint is completely dry, LIGHTLY take some fine grain sandpaper to it to knock off any spots that aren't conducting.

[millsisland]

The stencils you can get custom made at a sign painting shop ($5-$10) have adhesive on the bottom side. Peel off the protective sheet from the bottom, apply the stencil to the garment, gently pull off the protective sheet from the top, and you have your stencil. Make sure your stencil is completely adhered to the garmet before you pull off the top sheet. Check again before you proceed with the spray paint.

[chiz]

The paint is too thin? What type brush did you use? A stencil brush is round with dense bristles. The ink or paint is very thick. The brush is used up and down not across – like blotting – straight up and straight down. The runs are caused by capillary action. Thin ink is the worst, the fibers absorb the ink and the capillary action draws the ink between the stencil and the fabric. Thick ink is not absorbed as badly and capillary action is not as bad.

Try this
Use a round brush and inch or so in dia
use stamp pad and ink

With a dry brush work the ends of the brush only into the pad - keep the brush vertical above the pad.

Tape the stencil in place on two sides only top and bottom
Keep the brush vertical and work the bristles into the fabric – straight up and down. No side to side motion.

Good luck
Chiz

[Mergs]

You might try this technique. The hardest part of this process is getting a stencil of your name or club. One way is to go to the local reproduction store, like Kinko’s, and get one made, but make sure that you have either the dimensions you want or a jacket with you to make sure you get the correct sized stencil and remember the specifications outlined in Chapter 5.3.

Another way is if you have access to a computer and either MS Word or PowerPoint, you can print out your name on a sheet of paper (Use 200 size, bold, font of any of the following: Arial, Arial Narrow or Verdana. . 200 size font is equal to 2 inches in height for these font styles.) . Make sure that the name will fit on the jacket/lamé. You may have to play around with the font size a bit to get it right. Once you do, use spray adhesive to glue the paper to a stiff material like a manila folder and cut out the stencil with a ruler and very sharp Exacto knife. Be sure to keep the inner pieces of letters like A, P, O, Q, R, etc.

If you purchased your stencil, see if you can get it with an adhesive already applied. If not, you can use spray adhesive to attach it to the material to keep it from moving around.

Now you are ready to apply the stencil. Lay out the jacket/lamé on a flat surface. Be sure the space you are working in is well ventilated and somewhere where you don’t mind getting some paint on the floor, or surface your working on. Dry fit the stencil onto the jacket/lamé. When you are satisfied with the placement of the stencil, mark it somehow within the area you are going to be covering. A good technique is to use a pen and mark the lower left corner of the first letter and the upper right corner of the last letter.

Turn the stencil over and LIGHTLY spray adhesive to the back of the stencil and the little inner pieces. Let dry for about 15 – 30 seconds. Now reposition the stencil on the jacket/lamé, aligning the marks. Make sure you have the inner pieces positioned, too. If the stencil has a backing, remove it. Make sure that the edges of the stencil are pressed flat on to the material. Now using masking tape and newspaper, mask off the area around the stencil to make sure that no over-spray will get on to the jacket/lamé. Be generous with this masking. Newspaper is cheap.

For this application blue Krylon paint is a good spray-paint to use. Shake the can per the directions and holding it about 12 inches away from the material, spray lightly back and forth along the length of the stencil. Be sure to start and end beyond the ends of the stencil cut outs on either end. This will prevent an excess of paint from building up on the end letters. When stenciling a jacket, keep spaying until you get the color you want.

For lamés you do not want too much paint on it because it will interfere with the conductivity of the material. You may want to experiment a couple of times on an old lamé that still has some good spots on it to see how much paint you can apply before you affect the conductivity of the material. A good idea is to go over the area lightly with a Scotchbite® pad when the paint is dry. Be sure to check the conductivity and resistance of this area when you are finished.

Once the paint is dry (use a hair dryer to speed the process) remove the stencil. An alternative to paint is fabric dye applied with an airbrush. The problem with dye, though, is that it will wick (spread by soaking into the adjoining fibers) around the edges of the stencil and not give as sharp an edge as paint. The recommendation is to experiment first with old material and various application methods before trying it on your new jacket/lamé.

[cowpaste]

For lamés, I suggest that you immediately start blotting paint off from the stenciled part right after the paint is applied. That way any paint on the metal fibers is removed, but the blotting won't remove much of the paint that has gotten into the fabric.

[howtobrew]

Is an Iron-On allowed? You know, iron-on paper for an ink-jet Printer?
Durability may be an issue I suppose, but I could just do it again in six months...
John

[DHCJr]

If you check the note on the bottom of page 22 of the USFA rule book. You can not use tape and it must be FIRMLY SEWN. The FIE is not as clear.

[howtobrew]

OOOOKAY... Iron-ons do not work because the nylon material in the Post Sport Jackets will melt. Melt a hole in fact. This hole could allow an opponents blade to pass unhindered thru the material. As a matter of fact, said hole could allow the opponents bell guard to also pass thru the material, which I believe is worth a double touch, though I will need to look it up to be sure.

Think I will try the spray paint method next....

[Zilverzmurfen]

Why not just hand it in to a sports shop (or the similar, I am not familiar with how things work in the US) and get it printed?

I did that when I got a new jacket a few years back. I went to a shop that has its own 'printer studio' (?) where they print soccer shirts etc. I specified size and colour of letters and went back to collect it after 4-5 days (they had a big order at the time, hence the delay). Cost: ~10 USD.

It has lasted me well over two years and despite frequent washing (inside out) it still looks good and doesn't come off. Just a friendly tip.

NB: This was on a jacket, not a lamé!

[Maeve_Mari]

All the suggestions above are good, but the reason yours didn't work is the paint. For stenciling the paint has to be very very scant. Amazingly little paint should be on your brush when you stencil. You need to dip your brush into the paint, then wipe your brush over and over on a paper towel or rag until it is near dry. Then stencil either by stempling (stabbing) at the fabric inside the stencil or brushing it back and forth until sufficient paint is applied to the fabric.

I nearly always screw up when stenciling because I find it so slow and tedious to do and I always try to get away with keeping too much paint on the brush to speed it up. And always I mess it up because of this. If you keep your brush very dry and the paint very slight you will have a fine project. (Keeping the stencil flat and still helps too.)

[howtobrew]

Originally Posted by Zilverzmurfen

Why not just hand it in to a sports shop (or the similar, I am not familiar with how things work in the US) and get it printed?

??? You mean not do it yourself? I must have spent a good hour choosing the font, and adjusting the kerning, then another hour cutting the stencil out, and another hour aligning it before painting. Tomorrow I will apply a second coat too.

Paying somebody at a sports shop to have it done just seems....I dunno....it would be like going to Paris and asking for directions to the Louve rather than finding it yourself!

[Zilverzmurfen]

Whatever makes you happy!

It was just a suggestion!

[Craig]

I just use one of the really big blue permanent markers and block print my name.

[VorpalCat]

Originally Posted by Craig

I just use one of the really big blue permanent markers and block print my name.

I was all set to go that route as well but the test run bled like crazy. :-/

[howtobrew]

I made a stencil last night from some adhesive backed foam, and used blue spray paint (Rust Oleum Painters Touch Multi-purpose Enamel). Two coats and it worked great. I remembered to mask the rest of the jacket with newspapers too!
Thanks for the advice,
John